The use of LED (Light Emitting Diode) lights is becoming increasingly popular in a wide variety of lighting applications. Significant advances have been made in LED lighting technology, which have made the use of LED lights more affordable and desirable in various industrial, household, and other environments requiring expanded lighting systems.
LED lights offer significant advantages over traditional incandescent lighting systems. With incandescent bulbs, the expense is not only the cost of replacement bulbs, but the labor and costs associated with frequent replacement of the bulbs. This expense can be significant where there are a large number of installed bulbs. For example, the maintenance costs to replace bulbs in large office buildings, public transportation vehicles and systems, and the like, can be quite high. These issues are substantially minimized with LED lighting systems.
The operational life of conventional white LED lamps is about 100,000 hours. This equates to about 11 years of continuous operation, or 22 years of 50% operation. This is in stark contrast to the average life of an incandescent bulb, which is approximately 5000 hours. It is thus readily appreciated that the use of LED lights virtually eliminates the need for routine bulb replacement. This advantage is even more important when the lighting device is embedded into a very inaccessible place.
It is generally recognized that, in a properly designed system, LED lights consume significantly less power than incandescent bulbs. An LED circuit has an efficiency of about 80%, which means 80% of the electrical energy is converted to light energy while the remaining 20% is lost as heat energy. In large lighting systems, the cost savings are enormous.
Unfortunately, due in part to the relatively high cost of LED lights, the art turned to fluorescent light bulbs and systems as an alternative to incandescent lights. Fluorescent lighting is about 66 percent cheaper than incandescent lighting while providing essentially the same brightness. Fluorescent lighting also lasts longer than conventional incandescent lighting. On average, a fluorescent tube has a lifespan six times longer than a regular incandescent bulb. A vast majority of commercial and industrial structures incorporate conventional fluorescent tube lighting fixtures, as do more recent residential structures. Fluorescent lighting fixtures are also used widely in public transportation systems and vehicles, trains, subway cars, planes, and so forth.
Fluorescent lights, however, have distinct disadvantages. Fluorescent lighting circuits are more complex than incandescent lighting and generally requires professional installation and expensive components. Fluorescent lighting is generally less attractive than incandescent lighting and can flicker noticeably and produce an uneven light that may bother some users. Mercury is an essential component in the manufacturing of fluorescent light tubes, and is considered hazardous by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency due to its ability to bioaccumulate within the environment. The disposal of fluorescent light tubes is problematic for many municipalities, and a movement is underway in many locations to phase out the use of fluorescent lighting.
Increased reliance on LED lighting is thus a natural progression. However, the costs of replacing the existing fluorescent light tube fixtures and circuitry in existing structures, vehicles, systems, and so forth, is cost prohibitive. There is thus a need for a lighting system that can easily and affordably incorporate LED light devices in conventional fluorescent light fixtures. The present invention offers a unique connector solution to this need.